Friday, April 10, 2009

Good Friday

Curtis Pounds' brother, also named Curtis, was arrested for his murder

Real classy: prosecutor Larry Doan mocks officers, calls them "whiners" and "common criminals"

Two men were shot last night in front of Jack's carryout in South Baltimore

D'oh! Baltimore County police are looking for a Woodlawn man mistakenly released from the detention center.

Feel-good story of the day: Glen Burnie residents subdue home invader

"A Baltimore County judge has sentenced a county child support enforcement worker to 10 years in prison for stealing child support checks."

Police are ISO bald white guy who robbed Eastern Ave Wachovia

"Lawyer seeks new hearing in 1972 murder conviction"

Oh boy, speed cameras
Also see the CP's "Fast Cars, Loaded Guns and Empty Houses: A brief look at Baltimore City’s Annapolis agenda"

Don't miss Buz buzting some dirty delivery drivers!

5 comments:

Cham said...

We are going to have an OxyContin summer in Baltimore, the likes of which you have never seen before. The stuff is everywhere.

On another note, those speed cameras are exceptional cash cows. Since the state is absolutely strapped and construction work zones tend to be temporary, figure every single school is going to be surrounded by a minimum of 10 cash-earning cameras. I'd either learn to drive really really slow (you'll be able to move faster on a bicycle) or budget several hundred dollars to hand directly over to those companies that earn a percentage of the take by installing the cameras willy-nilly and mailing out the tickets/bills. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with the safety of our sweet innocent helpless children.

buzoncrime said...

Why do you think it will be so big this summer, Cham?
It sounds like you're seeing a lot of it. I guess it's kinda easier to take or get, in some circles than heroin.

Cham said...

The oxy is everywhere, we've got a couple of dealers on my street right now, dealers that weren't there before. I'm not an expert on drugs but I'll jump to a conclusion with this: A pill is easy to administer, no hypodermic needle, no smoking. Plus, it's easy to conceal and one white pill looks pretty much like another. If you have a scrip bottle with your name on it, you can put pretty much any pill you want in it and make it look all legit. Also, you can make up some sort of ailment for why you need a powerful painkiller and feel somewhat legitimate, where those that a buying heroin are definitely doing something blatantly illegal and creepy. I notice one of my neighbors is constantly whining about needing her "medication". Medication in her case actually means illegal OxyContin bought from a scuzzy dealer on the corner. But it sounds much better than "I need a dope fix."

buzoncrime said...

Thanks for the good post, Cham---It dovetails nicely with what i've been learning from the drug treatment center I work at part-time. Oxy is extremely addictive, and the users are, or become, very troubled people (probably already were to some extent). And many heroin users stopped injecting because of the "bug", either smoking or snorting or popping some version of it. Oxy makes it all so convenient as you point out.

My big fear is that the cachet for this drug will supplement or replace weed as the drug of choice for young people, many of whom already use marijuana because "it's harmless" and "they don't have a problem" and "I can quit anytime I want", but don't for some reason.

Many opiate users will have lifetime struggles with getting and keeping jobs, getting and maintaining decent relationships, and keeping out of trouble with law enforcement (even discounting simple possession). Sometimes, when I'm talking to an opiate user (addict?), it's like talking to a Klingon or something. Though they're often very nice, they often don't make a lot of sense. Good luck on this stuff in your hood.


On the issue of speed cameras, I doubt it will be as onerous as you suggest, so I disagree. It's pretty clear to me as I drive around that many, if not most people drive way too fast; what speed I'm driving is never fast enough. After riding my tail (already well above the speed limit), they swoop around me only to arrive at the next traffic light right in front of me--usually.

Cham said...

To be honest with, I'm not that upset about the oxy influx. If it is any consolation for me, I've noticed a sharp decrease in the teen hoodlum population as the number of Klingon-style addicts walking around has increased. The Klingons seem reasonably nice, polite and friendly as they saunter very slowly from the bar on the right side of my house to the dealers who reside on the block to the left. My greatest concern right now is that one of them will fall over and get hit by a vehicle.

Our oxy dealers are older and want to maintain a low profile, so they aren't doing anything to anger the neighborhood. But if you watch their houses the number of people going in and out are staggering. They must be selling one pill at a time.

You wait for those speed cameras. They already have them in Montgomery County. My mom has received 6 $40 tickets and has had to change her driving route, otherwise she will go broke. It doesn't take much to get the citations.